It's like a plague of common sense, and it's sweeping the nation.....

It what many consider a shocking departure from form, state legislators everywhere continue to do the right thing! Last week we reported on Virginia's Governor McDonnell who signed in two pieces of legislation that support Virginia craft brewers. And we wrote about Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy who signed in a bill allowing for alcohol sales on Sundays.

And now in what we see as yet another sign of some impending apocalypse, Pennsylvania legislators have also decided to do the right thing!

According to the Zach Lindsey writing for the Pocono Record a "provision in a recently created Pennsylvania law will allow breweries to sell individual bottles of beer." Evidently there was an old law in place mandating that beer had to be sold in quantities of at least 64 ounces. The enactment of Act 113 eliminates this decades old mandate.

Mr. Lindsay explains how this change could potentially benefit the state's craft brewers: 

The changed law, which specifically affects breweries, says a licensed brewery can sell any quantity of its beer in any package or any volume for off-premises consumption. For microbreweries selling products buyers may be unfamiliar with, the change could mean the difference between a customer trying a new, experimental flavor of beer or not.

Mr. Lindsay goes on to explain that the law's change is being well received by people such as Bill Bragg, a spokesperson for Weyerbacher Brewing Company, who thinks it's elimination will allow craft beer fans more freedom to sample different beers:

As opposed to being restricted by a relatively antiquated state rule, we're able to let people have a chance to try samples on their own ground," Bragg said. "They can just have a beer or two in their home instead of committing to a whole case."

Some restrictions do remain reports Mr. Lindsay "The law only affects breweries like Weyerbacher, which does not have a sit-down restaurant on its property."

We at AmericanCraftBeer.com applaud the Virginia, Connecticut and now Pennsylvania for their forthright actions and their leadership. They have heard the wailing and the anguish of their citizens, and they've responded.

Thank you for doing the right thing!